Middlesbrough Football Club — Riverside Stadium, Boro, 1876

Middlesbrough play their home matches at the Riverside Stadium on Middlesbrough Dock in Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire (TS3 6RS). The ground sits on the south bank of the River Tees on the regenerated former dock site, about 15 minutes' walk from Middlesbrough railway station.

Riverside Stadium opened on 26 August 1995 as the club's purpose-built replacement for the historic Ayresome Park — Boro's home from 1903 to 1995. Riverside was the first new-build Premier League-era stadium in England (Huddersfield's John Smith's Stadium opened in 1994 but was lower-tier at the time). Original capacity 30,000; expanded to 33,746 with the addition of upper tiers behind both goals in 1998.

Middlesbrough FC was founded in February 1876 in Middlesbrough, then a rapidly industrialising iron-and-steel town. The club turned professional in 1899 and joined the Football League's Second Division in 1899. Middlesbrough went 128 years without winning a major trophy — one of the longest droughts among the major English clubs — before lifting the 2004 League Cup under manager Steve McClaren.

The pre-2004 history is dotted with near-misses: top-six top-flight finishes in the 1970s, two League Cup final losses (1997 to Leicester, 1998 to Chelsea), and a 1997 FA Cup final loss to Chelsea — the latter played during the same 1996-97 season when Boro suffered a three-point deduction for postponing a fixture without permission, contributing directly to their relegation.

Middlesbrough won their first major trophy on 29 February 2004, beating Bolton Wanderers 2-1 in the Carling Cup final at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff. Goals from Joseph-Désiré Job and Bolo Zenden sealed the win. The squad — managed by Steve McClaren — included Mark Schwarzer, Gareth Southgate, George Boateng, Juninho (in his third Boro spell), Bolo Zenden, Joseph-Désiré Job, and Massimo Maccarone.

The win ended a 128-year wait for major silverware, qualified Boro for the UEFA Cup for the first time, and set up the two-year run that culminated in the 2006 UEFA Cup final.

Middlesbrough reached the 2005-06 UEFA Cup final under Steve McClaren — the club's first and only major European final. The semi-final against Steaua Bucharest featured the most-cited Boro European moment: Massimo Maccarone scoring twice in the final 16 minutes to overturn a 3-0 first-leg deficit and complete a 4-3 aggregate win at the Riverside.

The final on 10 May 2006 in Eindhoven ended Sevilla 4, Middlesbrough 0 — a comprehensive defeat that nonetheless represented the deepest European run by any north-east English club in the modern era. McClaren left for the England manager job that summer; the post-2006 period saw a gradual squad sale, three more Premier League seasons, and relegation in 2009.

Middlesbrough's major honours and distinctions:

• Football League Cup — 1: 2003-04 (beat Bolton 2-1 in Cardiff).
• UEFA Cup runners-up — 1: 2005-06 (lost 4-0 to Sevilla in Eindhoven).
• Football League Second Division champions — 1994-95 (with Bryan Robson as player-manager).
• Football League First Division (Championship) play-off winners — 2016 (return to Premier League).
• Anglo-Scottish Cup — 1: 1976.
• FA Cup runners-up — 1: 1996-97.
• Bryan Robson era — manager 1994-2001, the modernisation of the club including the Riverside move and the Ravanelli / Juninho / Emerson signings of 1996.
• Three-point deduction 1996-97 — for postponing a fixture vs Blackburn without permission; contributed to relegation that season.
• Famous Brazilians at Boro — Juninho (three spells: 1995-97, 1999-2000, 2002-04), Emerson (1996-97), Branco (1996), Doriva (2003-06).

Three practical visit tips:

• Train. Middlesbrough station is the closest mainline, ~15 minutes' walk through the regenerated dock area to the Riverside.
• Match-day demand. Championship attendances run 18-25k; sell-outs for promotion-pushing fixtures. The South Stand is the supporter-singing block.
• Stadium tours. Self-guided and guided tours cover the home and away dressing rooms, the tunnel, the press conference room, and the 2004 League Cup display. Book via mfc.co.uk.